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Union Station (Pittsburgh)
| line = | other = Port Authority of Allegheny County | platform = 3 + 1 disused | tracks = | parking = | bicycle = | passengers = 142,828 | pass_year = 2008 | pass_percent = 19 | opened = | rebuilt = | ADA = | code = PGH | owned = Amtrak | zone = | services = }} Union Station or Pennsylvania Station (commonly called "Penn Station" by locals) is a historic train station at Grant Street and Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. History Unlike many union stations built in the US to serve the needs of more than one railroad, this facility connected the Pennsylvania Railroad with several subsidiary lines; for that reason it was renamed in 1912 to match other Pennsylvania Stations. The station building was designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham and built 1898–1903. The materials were a grayish-brown terra cotta that looked like brownstone, and brick. Though Burnham is regarded more as a planner and organizer rather than a designer of details, which were left to draftsmen like Peter Joseph Weber, the most extraordinary feature of the monumental train station is his: the rotunda with corner pavilions. At street level the rotunda sheltered turning spaces for carriages beneath wide low vaulted spaces that owed little to any historicist style. Above, the rotunda sheltered passengers in a spectacular waiting room. Burnham's firm went on to complete more than a dozen projects in Pittsburgh, some on quite prominent sites. The rotunda is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The restoration of Union Station in the mid-1980s converted the office tower into condominiums. The waiting room, no longer open to the public, was transformed into a lobby for the condominiums, and the paint cleaned off the great central skylight. Current passenger service Union Station continues to serve as an active railway station. It is the western terminus of Amtrak's Pennsylvanian route and is along the Capitol Limited route. For getting to and from Pittsburgh by train, the former route is considered to be far more useful, as the latter passes through Pittsburgh late at night and very early in the morning. Until 2005, Pittsburgh was served by a third daily train, the Three Rivers (a replacement service for the legendary Broadway Limited), an extended version of the Pennsylvanian that terminated in Chicago. Upon its cancellation, the Pennsylvanian and Capitol Limited marked the first time in Pittsburgh's railway history that the city was served by just two daily passenger trains. Union Station's Amtrak station code is PGH. PAT Bus Connections *3L, 3M, 42S, 58C, 58P, 58V, 63A, 63B, 68A, 68B, 68D, 68F, 68G, 68J, 73B, 78A, 78C, 78E, 83B, 88A, 93A, AV, AVN, EBA, EBS, EBX, G, GR, HP, LP, P, PG, T, U, & W Images Image:Pittsburgh Union Station Rotunda 1876px.jpg|The rotunda Image:Pittsburgh Union Station Rotunda Center 3008px.jpg|Center of the rotunda References External links *Images of Union Station, Pittsburgh *Burnham's papers at the Carnegie Mellon Library *Port Authority of Allegheny County Station Info *Pittsburgh Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web) Category:Buildings and structures in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:History of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Category:Transportation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Category:Railway stations opened in 1903 Category:Railway stations in Pennsylvania Category:National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Category:Transit centers Category:Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmarks Category:Skyscrapers in Pittsburgh Category:Office buildings in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:Residential buildings in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:Condominiums in the United States Category:Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places